Samsung has suffered another setback in the European Union. Weeks after a German court ordered an injunction of their Galaxy Tab 10.1, a Dutch court has ruled in Apple's favor against Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones. According to the decision, Samsung infringed on patent number EP 2059868, which is for a "portable electronic device for photo management."

Here is a description of the patent:

A portable electronic device with a touch screen display for photo management is disclosed. One aspect of the invention involves a computer-implemented method in which the portable electronic device displays an array of thumbnail images corresponding to a set of photographic images. The device replaces the displayed array of thumbnail images with a user-selected photographic image upon detecting a user contact with a corresponding thumbnail image in the array. The user-selected photographic image is displayed at a larger scale than the corresponding thumbnail image. The portable device displays a different photographic image in replacement of the user-selected photographic image in accordance with a scrolling gesture. The scrolling gesture comprises a substantially horizontal movement of user contact with the touch screen display.

The three phones cannot be sold by Samsung's subsidiaries in The Netherlands or any other EU country that recognizes the patent in question. Samsung has vowed to keep fighting and the war is not likely to be over anytime soon. Stay tuned.

Update: Samsung has released a response to the court decision, saying that they will do everything that they can to ensure that the Galaxy phones will be available in the EU.

Here is their statement:

Today's ruling is an affirmation that the GALAXY range of products is innovative and distinctive. With regard to the single infringement cited in the ruling, we will take all possible measures including legal action to ensure that there is no disruption in the availability of our GALAXY smartphones to Dutch consumers.

This ruling is not expected to affect sales in other European markets.

Samsung has a proud history of innovation in the mobile industry. We will continue our plans to introduce new products and technologies that meet and exceed consumer expectations. And we will defend our intellectual property rights through the ongoing legal proceedings around the world.

The ruling found no IP infringements by Samsung GALAXY Tab devices. It found that Samsung’s GALAXY S, GALAXY S II, and GALAXY Ace infringed just one of the 10 IP rights which were cited in the lawsuit.

The court ruled that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, the parent company, may not sell the cited products in the Netherlands. This does not affect Samsung Electronics' sales in the rest of Europe.

The court ruled that Samsung’s Netherlands-based subsidiaries may not sell the cited products in the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Lichtenstein, Luxemburg, Monaco, Sweden, Switzerland until the cited single infringement is addressed.

The ruling provides a grace period until Oct. 14 to address the single infringement cited.